You might not be aware that the famed Mustard Belt might be brought back to American shores next week. (The Mustard Belt? That’s the prize if you win the Coney Island hot dog eating contest at Nathan’s on the 4th of July.) But it might be done by less then ideal circumstances. This is disturbing. First, Joey Chestnut recently won a qualifying event in Atlanta and shattered Kobayashi’s record of 53 (and 3/4)dogs, by eating 59 (and 1/2) dogs. Insane, right? But here’s the rub. Recently, Kobayashi has a jaw injury and is suffering from jaw arthritis. He’s planning to come anyway, but still. Don’t you want a fair fight? But maybe this will make Kobayashi rise to previously unheard of levels even while hurting, like Jordan playing with a fever! I am rooting for Joey mind you. But still, you have to feel for the guy.

A lot has been made of things that are going to be different next year with Coney. Here are some things you’ll miss possibly NEXT year.

Does this look appetizing?

Some key artwork behind one of the rides….

Awesome rocket burger place. Note the bald guy serving the burgers and then the giant rocket behind him. Aren’t rockets more like hotdogs though?

A great style picture you get. Notice little Tego a prominent part of this pic…

What do you do if you work at Coney Island? It’s all the way at the end of the trains. That’s a long way to go if you live in Manhattan or Queens. Well, screw that. Why not have your house above the ride?

And finally, not from Coney but from last week. We went to see Elvis Costello and in Grand Central we stumbled upon the world’s largest wheel of cheese. Check it out. And check out it next to me for some perspective on how large this cheese is. (And me.)

Oh one more thing… check out this vid I took of Pat Baer destroying Eliza at Dance Dance Revolution!

This is a song I wrote about Coney Island thinking about how it’s going to be so different next year after the end of the summer. Enjoy! Or cruelly, silently, refuse to listen. Do that if you must, enemies of fun. You others… here are the lyrics and the song:

A Coney Island Elegy

A Coney Island Elegy

We made plans to meet on Sunday afternoon
It was halfway between us
It seemed like a reason
A great way to cap off the season

So I must have Rip Van Winkled cuz I woke up late
But I ran to the train, maybe she still be there anyway
I took the F all the way to the sea
Instead of her eyes of blue, all I saw was green

But Coney Island washed away
And somewhere my baby’s in the bay
Returning back to whence it came
I guess it’s going to be that kind of day

You see the coaster, it’s peeking out
There’s the killer curve, where girls would always shout
They’d grab your hand, or squeeze your knee
But those are underwater memories

See there’s Nathan’s hot dog stand, my those buns are getting wet
But there’s no eating contest now, just the fish are getting fed
We said we start there, she said I’m a cheap date
But I guess the start was how we’d end things today

Because Coney Island washed away
And somewhere my baby’s in the bay
Returning back to whence it came
I guess it’s going to be that kind of day

A radio, it’s that song by the Drifters
I’m under the boardwalk, and man how I miss her
The Wonder Wheel paddles by, and I’m wondering why
Why did I sleep in so long, and I started to cry

Who should I see but Woody Guthrie, clinging to a tree
He called out, “Are you looking for your baby?”
Woody said lemmee help you out, ya see I wrote this song
Because I’ve been marooned here all along

Because Coney Island washed away
And somewhere my baby’s in the bay
Returning back to whence it came
I guess it’s going to be that kind of day